Tuesday, September 17, 2013

It may still be a week until FIFA 14 gets its console release, but that doesn’t mean that those packing an iOS device can’t get their (proper) football on.

Released as a 1.16GB install and costing nothing, the game is using the much travelled premium route in an attempt to get itself to the top of Apple’s game charts. Costing nothing up front is all very well and good, but if you’re going to nickel and dime your users afterwards then all everyone’s left with is a bad taste in our mouths. Thankfully, it would appear that someone at EA got things right this time around.

In-app purchases come in two flavors. First, gamers can buy in-game currency just as seems to be the norm with any game that features in-app purchases. Secondly, and more interestingly, there’s an option to unlock the game’s ‘Premium’ mode for $5.99. Paying your six dollars kickoff, tournament, and manager modes, so we expect that’s the route that most people will want to take with FIFA 14.

All this sounds great, but there’s one issue. Currently, as far as we can tell, FIFA 14 is only available to gamers who use the New Zealand iOS App Store. Users in the US and UK are certainly out of luck currently, but if you know differently we’d love to hear from you.

There’s no word yet as to whether this is a soft launch of sorts, or whether the game will roll out to other regions over the coming hours. Soft launches are becoming more and more common as developers use them as a sort of public beta, especially if their game has a strong multiplayer or online element that means servers need stress testing or leveling needs tweaking.

At this point we’d like to think that the folks at EA know just what it takes to make a FIFA game work on iOS, but until told otherwise we’ll have to assume that the game isn’t coming out until the 24th of September, just like its big brother.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

All the talk right now is understandably centered around the two new smartphones that Apple will be unleashing to the world on September 20th. The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c were officially unveiled by Phil Schiller at Apple’s Cupertino Campus yesterday, and the two will no doubt be hugely popular with buyers next week. While the hardware is certainly catching the eye, the new handsets are more than just some new specs or fancy plastics. There’s iOS 7, too.

I’ve been using the beta releases of iOS 7 from day one, and I’ve been keeping you all apprised of how they have progressed from iOS 7 beta 1, right through to iOS 7 beta 6 that I was running till this morning. Now though, my iPhone 5 is running the latest, and last iOS 7 version that we will see – iOS 7, Golden Master.

The final build of iOS 7, and bar any last minute changes the version that will launch on September 18th, the GM should be as stable as stable gets, and there shouldn’t be any surprises as far as features are concerned when the big release comes. Apple is still Apple though, so we won’t rule out anything at this point.

So, iOS 7 GM download went live after the event yesterday, and I’ve been using it for a few hours now. What’s new? Well, not a lot, really. You’ve probably already seen the new wallpapers that have been added, with the majority clearly aimed at the new, more colorful iPhone 5c handsets that will go on sale next week. They’re nice and all, but they don’t tend to sit too well on my black iPhone 5 – especially the bright red one! Still, if you’re really fond of bright colors, or indeed color blind, then you may well like what you see.

There are new ring and alert tones, too. Mostly you’re going to notice newly revamped versions of all the classics, which is nice. The new tones especially get a big thumbs-up, but it’s not exactly going to make anyone rush out to buy an iPhone over the competition. Still, anything new is a bonus here.

As has been the case with other beta releases, the biggest change is the speed at which things happen. Animations seem to have been cut shorter once more, and things are again snappier than with previous betas. Apple seems to have been tweaking things throughout the beta process, trying to find a happy medium between speed and having fancy animations to show off. I’d rather things work quickly than have to sit and watch something slide around my screen before I can do anything, but maybe I’m the only one who thinks that way.

We’re now just a week away from iOS 7 being something that everyone can get their hands on, and I think people will like it. Once the jarring icons have settled into everyone’s consciousness and they’re all used to the new colors, I’m sure they will come to admit that iOS 7 feels more modern, more alive than previous releases of Apple’s mobile OS. It’s still not perfect, but it’s better.